I Was So Proud
by Ratin8tor
Summary: "You're right, I don't look back. I can't. But the last time I was dying, I looked back on all of you. Every single one. And I was so proud." The Tenth Doctor didn't just visit the modern series companions before his regeneration. Note each story is 202 words, reflecting that The End of Time was the 202nd story.
1. Grace

A decade later, and Grace Holloway was still saving lives at the ECU. Or she would be, if she could make it in time.

"Come on," she yelled angrily, beeping her horn. Her phone continued to go off, reminding her that it was a bad idea of hers to pop out when she was on call. But then again she was always on call when U.N.I.T needed help with an unworldly visitor.

She was so close to the headquarters as well, only a few traffic lights away. She put her head back against the headrest and glanced around. She saw a strange, skinny man with a pinstripe suit and a long coat standing in the shadows.

Silently he raised a glowing stick, a small smile creeping on his face. Grace thought that the stick looked familiar, but didn't have time to study it further. The car behind her honked, forcing her to tear her gaze away from the man. The traffic lights from here to the building were green.

As she pulled away from the lights she looked back for the man, but he had disappeared. But she only knew one man that could have done it. Or, more specifically, one Doctor.


	2. Ace

Dorothy looked out of the window of her office at the same boring landscape she'd seen so many times. It was an empty field, devoid of life, as bland and boring as you can get.

Still, she couldn't really complain. Her organization, A Charitable Earth, had taken off like a blast. It was a simple concept really: rather than donating money people would donate time to help each other out. It took a lot of organizing, but people were often happy to lend each other a hand.

It was good work, and she couldn't fault it, but... She missed the thrill, the adrenaline pumping fear. Nothing interesting ever happened around here.

The blast vibrated throughout the entire building and knocked her out of her chair. As she scrambled off the floor a huge grin broke across her face. Now this was more like it.

She made her way to the window to see that the drab landscape had forever changed. In huge blazing letters the word "ACE" was clearly legible. Next to it a skinny man in a suit and a long coat beamed proudly. Dorothy laughed heartily. Apparently the Professor wasn't that much of a stick in the mud after all.


	3. Mel

Some days, space travel was rather boring and ho-hum. A whole lot of nothing interspersed with emptiness. Some days it lacked any fun at all.

This was not one of those days.

"Bloody 'ell," swore Sabalom Glitz as the missile raced past them. "Where that come from?"

"We set off an automated defence system," said Melanie Bush. "Now keep quiet why I try and avoid it."

"I don't think you can," said Glitz. "That think has a lock on us." Mel gritted her teeth. The missile was on a collision course and nothing was going to stop it. She banked sharply as the missile shot underneath her, but already it was starting to turn. It was no use. She was never going to see Pease Pottage ever again.

"'Ere, what's that," said Glitz, pointing to something outside the ship. A familiar blue box started to materialize out of thin air, hovering in space. The doors opened, a skinny man in a suit and coat hanging out of the doors. He waved a glowing stick.

The missile exploded harmlessly in space, the debris flying away from the _Nosferatu II_. Before Mel could react, the blue box disappeared again.

She smiled. "Thank you Doctor."


	4. Peri

"Do you, Perpugilliam Brown, take King Yrcanos to be your husband? To promise to stand by him in victory and desert him in defeat? To be faithful in sickness and tender in health, till both of you go to the great battlegrounds in the sky?"

"I do," said Peri on the happiest day of her life and kissed her new partner. She'd been hesitant to settle down, but the prospect of being Queen was an appealing one.

But it was more than that. The Doctor had disappeared, leaving her on her own. Fortunately Yrcanos was there and, despite being a bit loud, he was a surprisingly lovely and gentle man at times. Plus he would fight for her honour at the slightest chance, which always made a girl feel wanted.

Their wedding had been an odd clash of Thoros Alpha traditions and ones found back on Earth. As such she had bouquet of flowers she always wanted to throw ever since she was a girl.

With a mighty heave she threw it into the crowd... only for it to be caught by a sad young man wearing a suit. He looked at her, his eyes begging forgivingness. She smiled and granted it.


	5. Turlough

Turlough wondered for not the millionth time that he should have stayed with the Doctor. Trion was a nice planet and all, and it was nice not to be a political prisoner, but...

He had to wonder whether getting elected into high office was really the best thing he could have done. Considering it was politics that got him exiled, attempting to stay in it and make it better from the inside was a risky move.

What he really needed now, more than anything, was a reason to leave the stuffy meeting. It had been stretching on for hours and if only he could go outside for some fresh air.

A cricket ball smashed through the window and landed neatly in front of him. The politicians quickly got into a panic, but Turlough merely smiled.

"I'll just return this, shall I," he said, darting out of the room before anyone had a chance to complain. He rounded the corner of the building to see a young man in a pinstripe suit. He let out a smile, giving a look of a father who's proud of his son, before gesturing for the ball back.

Turlough threw it at him, also smiling. "Thanks Doctor".


	6. Tegan

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen," said Tegan, smiling at the passengers in front of her. "Due to heavy storms we may be experiencing some slight turbulence." Before the words had even come out of her mouth the plane rocked violently, throwing her off her feet.

Even though she was used to rough rides she wasn't ready for anything nearly as bad as this. She had said it was madness to try and take off in this weather and the plane seemed to be agreeing with her.

She struggled to her feet and looked out of the cabin window. What she saw filled her with dread. A plane was on a collision course right at them!

There didn't seem to be anything that could be done. The plane, obviously lost, would collide with them soon. Tegan bit her lipped and tried to keep calm, praying that if she got out of this she'd finally help the native Aboriginals.

Suddenly there was a familiar groaning noise. Tegan looked out the window again in amazement as the other plane was pushed off course, a small blue box hovering just below it. She let out a sigh of relief. "Oh Doctor," she muttered, "thanks for everything."


	7. Nyssa

The cure was there, she just couldn't find it. All the pieces were in place, all the research had been done, there was just something that she was missing.

Nyssa pushed herself away from the microscope and forced herself to think with a cleared head. There was an answer to this, she knew it. But it was times like these she missed the Doctor.

While the Lazar's disease was now more manageable, it was far from being eradicated. And there were fears that it might suddenly flair back up at any moment. While Terminus was kept under strict quarantine, there was always the fear of something getting out.

She sighed and left to get a drink. She hardly failed to notice the skinny man in the brown pinstripe suit, her head filled with equations and formulas. If only she could have some sort of clue to what she was missing.

She returned to the laboratory weary, rejected, ready to scrap the project and start afresh... when a little note caught her eye. There wasn't much, just a simple formula and a piece of purple celery. But of course, that was it. Praxis gas. It all made sense. Nyssa smiled. "Good old Doctor".


	8. U N I T

"We're suffering massive decompression," cried Sergeant Benton as he scanned the screens. A breach had been created in the newly opened moon base, blasting a hole in the side of it.

"Shut the doors," cried Captain Yates.

"I can't sir, Miss Shaw is in there," replied Benton. Indeed she was. At that very moment Liz Shaw was attempting to reach the door, but the rushing air was too strong. She knew she had only seconds before the door automatically shut, regardless of lifeforms in the room. Benton and Yates would never close it while she was inside, but she knew it was hopeless.

Suddenly the wind pressure stopped, cut off as quickly as she arrived. Liz, having put all her energy into holding on, suddenly toppled followed. She swung her head round to see a large metal tray covering the hole. It wasn't perfect, but it was clearly holding.

A skinny man in a pinstripe suit smiled at her, then started to walk away. Before she could say anything her radio crackled to life.

"Miss Shaw, are you okay?" came the voice of Benton. "Miss Shaw?"

"I'm fine, building secured," she replied as a familiar sound was heard. "Thanks to the Doctor."


	9. Zoe

It was a complicated problem, there was no denying it. Zoe didn't have the first clue where to start. Faults where developing all over the Wheel and it was up to her to solve them. In one section life support was failing, in another the thrusts were acting up. Clearly the Cybermen had left a little toy behind in case they lost.

But most stressing of all was the timer in front of her. A bomb had been set to detonate in a matter of moments unless she could work out the logical code to disarm it. But where to start was entirely beyond her.

Suddenly there was movement. She spun round to see a skinny man in a brown suit raise some sort of glowing stick device. Suddenly the countdown disappeared and the alarms shut off.

Zoe stared at this man in disbelief. Who was he, where had he come from, and why did he seem so strangely familiar?

But before she could react he was gone, leaving behind only a piece of paper. Scooping down to pick it up she saw just four simple numbers: 1968. The pieces fell into place. She knew exactly what to do, thanks to logic.


	10. Victoria

Some days Victoria enjoyed her new life and the technology associated with it. But other days she missed her own time, her own place, but more importantly...

It was her deepest regret that she never had a portrait of her father. It was destroyed with the mansion by the Daleks, and ever since then she'd been travelling the universe too much to care. But now, after settling down, she missed her late father dearly. What wouldn't she give to see him one more time.

There was a knock at the door. She opened it to see a skinny man wearing a brown suit, holding an envelope. Wordlessly he gave it to her and left. She frowned, puzzled by the encounter as she opened it. It was address to her after all.

Inside was a simple heart necklace, nothing too fancy. Although she recognized the Victorian styling anywhere. She opened it... to see her father staring back at her. Or at least a picture of him.

Tears welled up in her eyes as she saw pictures of both her mother and father. When they were taken, she did not know. But only one man could have done it.

"Thank you Doctor. Thank you."


	11. Jamie

It was looking bad. He was pinned down by those dastardly Redcoats. He knew that even though it took time for one to reload, one of the others would be ready. He was outmanoeuvred, out-gunned and out of options. He knew it wouldn't be long before the Redcoats were on him.

He gripped his knife tighter. Well, he may be pinned down but he wasn't going to go out with a fight. He was a Scotsman after all, a member of the McLaren Clan on top of that.

"Creag an tuire!" he cried, leaping from behind shelter and sprinting towards his enemies... only to find them lying on the ground, seemingly clobbered.

A skinny man in a brown suit stood behind them, holding a truncheon. He looked slightly guilty about it, but smiled when he saw Jamie. Before Jamie could react the man was already off, running over a small hill. Jamie made to follow him, but stop when he heard the familiar wheezing sound. Old, long forgotten memories started to stir in his mind.

He shook his head to clear out the thoughts. He had other things to worry about. Though he couldn't help but wonder just who that man was.


	12. Ben & Polly

It wasn't going swimmingly in India as Polly stared at the bills. While Ben earned a nice tidy sum as an Admiral for the Indian navy it still wasn't enough to cover the costs of running the orphanage.

She sat at her desk, trying to think up a solution, hoping for miracles. When they had left the Doctor they had plans to change the world. After saving some money they moved to India to open an orphanage. And it had been going well for the most part.

But still the money wasn't paying enough. Her friends would barely recognize her, gone were the glitzy and glam of her old life. Ben no longer called her Duchess, for even that was gone. Everything sunk into a desperate hope of helping the helpless.

Suddenly laughter caught her ear. She went to the window to see three amazing sights. First was a large sack of money surrounded by the children. The second was its deliverer, a skinny man in a brown suit. The third was the police box a little way off. Before she could move the man darted back inside, the police box vanishing. But Polly knew that he'd saved his friends yet again.


	13. Steven

It was a tough life, being a leader. Steven Taylor had learnt that the hard way. After so many years of being their appointed king, he was about ready to retire. In fact he pretty much had. It was only lingering doubts that kept him about.

The first was of that mysterious old man, the Doctor, who had such an instrumental part of his life. It was the reason why he ended up where he ended up. But the other...

Suddenly a small soft toy landed in his lap. Steven looked up to see a skinny man in a brown pinstripe suit smile at him, before turning and walking away. Steven was about to follow, but saw the toy in his lap.

It was very old, very worn out, and clearly made for marketing reasons... but the panda that he now held was none other than HiFi, his only friend during the long years of being captive by the Mechanoids.

Steven let out a hearty laugh and hugged the soft toy closely to his chest, overjoyed about how it suddenly came back into his life. As he fell into his final slumber he let out a small thanks to the enigmatic Doctor.


	14. Vicki

It was a traditional wedding in a way, but not in the tradition of Vicki's home time. Although she loved Troilus, and was looking forward to marrying him, there was just one thing she was missing.

Ian and Barbara had talked about one of their favourite parts of the wedding, the tossing of the bouquet. It seemed like such a silly little thing, but one she wanted to do nonetheless. Of course the concept wouldn't be invented for hundreds of years; and she hadn't the time to gather the flowers. Nor would any of her friends understand why she wanted them. Still, that's the nature of life.

A skinny man in a brown suit tapped her on the shoulder. In his hands were a bouquet, flowers found within the local area. It was exactly what she wanted! But who was this strange, anarchistic man.

The man said nothing, instead turning and walking away silently. Vicki was tempted to follow, but had other things to worry about. Still, in her heart she knew who that strange man was. The same strange man that had rescued her from Dido all those years ago.

She smelt the flowers. They were divine. "Thanks Doctor," she said.


	15. Ian & Barbara

"You may kiss the bride," said the priest as Barbara Wright became Miss Chesterton. Her husband, Ian Chesterton, wasted no time in planting a kiss on her lips. After all they'd been through in their life this wedding was just what they needed. It felt earthly, normal, but most of all right.

Barbara peeled herself away from her new husband and looked out into the crowd. All familiar faces, except for one man. A strange, skinny man in a brown suit. When Barbara threw the bouquet into the crowd he was the one that seemingly caught it, though just how she didn't know.

She nudged Ian and pointed to the strange man. Ian followed her finger and let out a smile. There was something very familiar about this strange man, they just couldn't figure out what.

He approached them, cautiously. He seemed to be hiding a lot of pain. "Congratulations," he said. "Mister and Misses Chesterfield- Chesterton!" Sheepishly he smiled at the Freudian slip and started to leave.

Barbara was about to stop him, but Ian held her back. They both had a feeling who it was, but their time with him was over. They had new, greater adventures ahead of them.


	16. To Fallen Friends

Kamelion.

Leela.

Romana, wonderful women, both of them.

The Brigadier.

Sara Kingdom.

Katarina.

Adric.

_Susan_.

The names in front of him were just some of the many found in this hidden section of the TARDIS. A small room that only he could get too. In it was a tribute to all those that he had lost. The list was too long.

Of course everyone ended up on the list eventually. Even he would be entombed one day, probably within the TARDIS. But until that moment he had options, he had life. He could visit any of his companions any time he wanted.

Except these ones. These deaths were fixed points in time. He couldn't go backwards past this point. He wouldn't want too. Death came to everything, and he couldn't stop it eventually.

Everything had its time, and everything had its end. Even him.

But these names, the names in this entire section... They were all fantastic. Simply fantastic. They accepted the inevitable and thus so must he. So must he.

He didn't normally look back. He just couldn't. But this one time, as he was dying, he looked back on all of them. Every single one.

And he was so proud.


End file.
